Senator Douglas V. Mastriano, PhD
(Colonel, U.S. Army, Retired)
Doug Mastriano is a combat veteran and the son of a career U.S. Navy serviceman. An Eagle Scout from a working-class background, he worked as a paperboy, janitor, security guard, short-order cook, pizza delivery driver, and dishwasher before being commissioned as an officer in the United States Army in 1986.
Mastriano began his military career on the Iron Curtain with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in West Germany, patrolling the borders of East Germany and Czechoslovakia during the final years of the Cold War. While serving there, he witnessed firsthand the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the reunification of Germany — experiences that shaped his lifelong commitment to freedom and transatlantic security.
Following the invasion of Kuwait, he deployed to the Middle East for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. His regiment spearheaded the attack against Saddam Hussein’s elite Republican Guard forces during one of the largest armored battles of the modern era.
Over a thirty-year military career, Mastriano spent twelve years overseas, ten of which were in Europe. He also served in Washington, D.C., the Pentagon, the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment, the 3rd Infantry Division, and U.S. Army Europe. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, he was the lead planner for the northern invasion into Iraq through Türkiye and later helped build and coordinate the multinational coalition for Operation Iraqi Freedom while working extensively in Poland, the United Kingdom and Germany.
From 2005–2009, Mastriano served in NATO assignments involving multinational intelligence coordination, operational planning, and alliance-level strategic assessments. During this period, he participated in NATO exercises and planning efforts in Germany, Turkey, Italy, and Poland, including work with the United Kingdom Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), NATO Rapid Deployable Corps–Northeast in Szczecin, Poland, NATO training facilities in Turkey, and NATO commands in Italy.
Mastriano also served as Director of NATO’s Joint Intelligence Center in Afghanistan, leading an eighty-person multinational intelligence organization representing eighteen allied nations. During his deployments, he also led seven humanitarian relief operations supporting Afghan orphanages.
From 2008–2009, he served as senior intelligence officer (G2) at NATO Allied Land Component Command Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, where he worked closely with allied military leadership on strategic assessments involving Russia, Eastern Europe, alliance readiness, and multinational operational planning.
In 2015 and 2016, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army assigned Mastriano to lead strategic research and planning efforts examining Russian military strategy and NATO deterrence posture in Northern and Eastern Europe. His work focused on shaping allied Landpower options, Baltic defense planning, forward deterrence strategy, and NATO’s operational response following Russia’s seizure of Crimea.
During this same period, Mastriano served as senior facilitator for six NATO STEADFAST exercises in the Baltics involving allied military leadership, defense officials, and multinational operational staffs focused on collective defense, regional readiness, and the protection of NATO’s eastern flank against escalating Russian military aggression.
Throughout his military career, Mastriano routinely briefed and worked alongside senior allied civilian and military leadership — including ministers, parliamentarians, NATO generals, and regional defense officials — regarding Baltic security, NATO readiness, Russian strategy, and Eastern European defense posture.
Mastriano completed his military career as a Professor at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he taught Strategic Studies at the master’s degree level to the next generation of senior leaders. He retired from active duty in 2017 as a Colonel after thirty years of service.
A scholar-soldier, Mastriano holds a PhD in History and four master’s degrees in Strategic Studies, Strategic Intelligence, Military Operational Art and Science, and Airpower Theory. He has published numerous strategic studies, articles, and books on military history and leadership.
Mastriano led the effort to locate the site where America’s greatest World War I hero, Sergeant Alvin York, earned the Medal of Honor and directed the construction of a commemorative trail, monuments, and markers in the Argonne Forest of France. His acclaimed biography Alvin York: A New Biography of the Hero of the Argonne received four awards. He also authored Thunder in the Argonne and co-edited Pershing’s Lieutenants.
In 2019, Mastriano was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the 33rd District, which includes all of Adams and Franklin Counties. Since taking office, he has advanced legislation supporting veterans, first responders, public safety, and community strengthening initiatives.
Doug is married to Rebecca “Rebbie” Stewart, whose family settled in Pennsylvania in 1732. Rebecca previously served as a chaplain with Marketplace Ministries at Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe. Their son, Josiah, is a graduate of Liberty University, an Eagle Scout, a Canadian Chief Scout, and a recipient of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards and a Lieutenant in the Pennsylvania National Guard.
Academic Background
Bachelor of Arts, History
Masters Strategic Intelligence
Masters Airpower Theory
Masters Military Operational Art and Science
Masters Strategic Studies
Ph.D. (Doctor of History)
Key Military Assignments
1986 – Commissioned as an officer in the United States Army
2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (2ACR) on the Iron Curtain
2ACR for Operations Desert Shield/Storm in Iraq
Assignments in Washington, DC
229th Military Intelligence Battalion
3rd Infantry Division (Rock of the Marne)
US Army Europe
NATO (Deployments to Afghanistan 2006, 2007, 2008)
U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Professor Army War College (PAWC), Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Retired as Colonel in the United States Army
Published Books:
Pershing’s Lieutenants, (London, UK, Osprey; 2020). Coeditor with David Zabecki
Douglas Mastriano, Thunder in the Argonne: A New History of America’s Greatest Battle, (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2018).
Douglas Mastriano, Alvin York, (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2014).
Published Security Studies:
Project 1721: a Strategic Assessment of the Emerging Russian Approach, (Carlisle, PA, US Army War College; 2017).
Project 1704: Russian Landpower, (Carlisle, PA, US Army War College; 2015).
Academic Awards:
William E. Colby Award
Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award
US Army War College Madigan Award
Carder Family Book Prize
Army War College Foundation Writing Award
Colby Circle Member. Inducted into the elite “Colby Circle” in 2015. Other writers associated with the Colby Circle include: H.R. McMaster, Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, James Webb, and Mark Bowden. This group of writers is recognized for their contributions “to public understanding of military and political affairs.”
Academic Promotions and Designations:
Army War College Professor (Functional Area 47)
Associate Professor
Tenured Military Faculty
Professor Army War College (PAWC)
Army Historian (5X designation)